WSR Poetry Corner: ‘Tap Dance to UWS City Sounds’

By Carol Tannenhauser

In the past, if I was ever short of good copy for the Rag, I would turn to Mildred Alpern, a longtime contributor of poetry and photographs. Sometimes, she would send me things spontaneously as well, like the poem below. It came with a note.

Hi Carol, I used to tap dance, and I have seen Savion Glover tap dance to city noises. Memories and everyday outside sounds inspired this poem. Best, Mildred

Mildred died this year at the age of 91, but she left behind a trove of compositions, still unpublished, that we’ll be drawing from for a long time. This one has changed my perception of the intrusive noises that assault us in the city, even, the angry horns!

“Tap Dance to UWS City Sounds”
By Mildred Alpern

The horns of the city wreak night and day
Short and loud blasts echoing play
Fluttering beeps and lengthier sounds
Symphonic notes that leap out of bounds

Steamrolling tires press on the ground
Smooth level treads whisking around
A murmuring hum but not fading fast
If trying to sleep, how long will noise last?

City sounds heard, incessant mumble
Of jackhammer and drill ongoing rumble
A hammer is pounding on a rooftop nearby
A staccato beat rhythm like a rock-a-baby bye

It’s all in the background
Of ambient noise
That running a city daily employs

Don’t forget the clucking pigeons
A stammering few
That perch on windowsills
For a look around view

Their stay is most brief
Flap wings, fly away
Zoom over to a rooftop
A few blocks away

You could time step, you could shuffle
To the disparate beats
Make your own kind of clatter
With shoe taps on your feet
Fast barrel turns would bring sense of flight
And merge your own being in a noise-filled spotlight